Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-07-21
PUBLIC MARTYRS.

According 20 very plauSiUIS WIFE,
who has written an exhaustive ar icle on
the subject in the Philadelphia Press,
those who desire to study martyroIozy
have no need to burgow il the musty
past. The Cabinet officers, Congressman,
Senators and prominent army and navy
officials are, al Of them, sacrificing 10 the
public good the precious oDlGtion OF their
private fortunes and the GccumuIations
of years of economy AMI industry. The
demands of society are such that the
5000 or $4,000 paid az 81 annusl stipend
is mere bagstelIe, as compared &c the
expense Of living in the capital city,
where the one item of reu! alone
costs from $1,000 upwards. There
have been a few Congressman who
have contented themselves with second
class hotels and in this way manage to
exc out On existence By the aid of free
passes and odd jobs between sessions,
but these men will go down in history
with only G few lines IN a biographical
dictionary. Men OF spirit and ambition
who desire to see and be seen while they
live, and leave name behind them when
they die, must live up 20 their incomes,
squ2nder whatever they have and get as
deeply in debt as possible. Daniel Man
ming had to resign as Secretary Of the
Treasury because ms salary OF $4,000 was
too small, by $4,000, to pay his ex-
/ penses, says this writer. 1t cost w. L.
Chandler $40, 900 more than mis- salary TO
he Secretary of the Navy, and Ham
ilton Fish paid out his entire salary for
rent. These may be exceptional cases,
out ii is doubtful if one honest man in
twenty who serves q term in Washington
comes home with as much as ne hsd
when ne lett. The inordinate demands
made upon the purses OF public
men are such as to make
it impossible for any but the miserably
poor or the majesticauy rich to accept
Office. Ca 8 country where a republican
| form of government exists and where
people boast of a Democratic simplicity,
this state of affairs is sad CO nmentary.
We have drifted away from the esrly
plainness and respectable frugality of our
fathers, and have given ourselves up to
the tinsel and trumpery of monarchi2l
governments. The idea seems to obtain
that in order to represent the people Of
the nation their representatives. in Wash
/ ington must pass the time in en- extri-
VACANT revel, where receptions" and
social gatherings must be paid for and
continued, though the entire income of
the oftlceholder is dls5ipated The style
of sping the spendthrift nonsense OF
/ foreign courts WIS adopted and given life
when the millionaires-by-ac accident turned
their attention first to the pur,
chase of political Offices. Men who
lacked every element Of greatness save
beast!y supply OF money, were driven
to the necessity OF purchasing promi-
nerce and renown by q prodigal display Of
their untold munifcence. In the social
armament they could not snIae WIN any
degree of splendor owing TO = lack OF
those charms and grsces which d;stin-
guish the gentleman from the boor, aud
which are seldom cultivated in mining
camps. The innovation was success,
sld the doltish money bags was at once
the wonder and admiration of all. The
gsudy splendor and ignorant mummeries
OF the representatives of foreign poten-
tstes paled into psuperism before the gor-
geous grandeur and oriental magnihcence
of republican America. Thus the "style"
was inaugurated, and thus it continues,
until to refuse to follow it means social
ostracism. Our representatives can not
live OF the salaries paid them, not on &C